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Meet Georgia’s frothy-mouthed anti-gay bigot

By Matt Hennie | Jan 4, 2012 | 4:23 PM

Finding a rabid, anti-gay activist frothing at the mouth over some equality-minded proposal at the State Capitol is like playing a game of Whac-A-Mole. When one gets whacked, another pops up. Meet Sue Ella Deadwyler—just in time for Monday’s opening of the Georgia General Assembly.

Deadwyler (photo) has trotted out the best in anti-gay rhetoric from the ‘90s to mislead her minions about House Bill 630. The legislation was proposed last March by lesbian state Rep. Karla Drenner and a bipartisan coalition of 70 lawmakers to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender for state employees.

Or as Deadwyler explains, it’s an effort by the gays to protect pedophiles, cross-dressers and people who engage in bestiality and necrophilia.

H.B. 630 gives civil rights protection to pedophiles, peeping toms, cross-dressers, flashers and those practicing bestiality or necrophilia (sex with corpse). The American Psychiatric Association (APA) lists these and other acts as deviant and abnormal sexual behaviors. They are chargeable offenses under Georgia law, as well.

Since H.B. 630 proposes a drastic shift in public policy, results of its passage must be carefully examined. Discussions of H.B. 630 must include the following highly relevant facts: (a) Sex and gender are not synonymous terms. (b) Sexual orientation and gender identity fail the three-pronged test used to determine civil rights status. (c) Sexual identity is a biological fact evidenced by the perineum. (d) Gender identity is self-determined and self-assumed.

If you thought the demise of Sadie Fields or the death of Nancy Schaefer would slow the Gold Dome’s wingnuts, Deadwyler is proof positive that there’s an endless supply of conservative crazy among lawmakers in downtown Atlanta. Deadwyler says she has “been called by God to be a ‘watchman on the wall.’” And when she’s not answering her hotline to Heaven, she’s publishing the Georgia Insight newsletter.

To help combat that, Georgia Equality dug up Deadwyler’s take on H.B. 630, which the statewide LGBT group is championing, and distributed it to supporters on Wednesday to boost their current fundraising campaign.

It can be easy for us to forget that we have real opponents out there. This is what our opposition is saying about House Bill 630 (Georgia Fair Employment Practices Bill), not just to the public but to Georgia lawmakers.

Georgia Equality is about two-thirds of the way to its goal of raising $15,000, which will help fund a full-time lobbyist during the upcoming legislative session, advocacy training for citizen lobbyists and education efforts around the proposed bill. Think the group doesn’t need your support? Read Deadwyler’s take on the bill again.

The 2012 legislative session begins this Monday, January 9th. Right now, there is significant support for this legislation. We need donations from supporters like you to ensure that we have the resources necessary to defeat our opponents and continue building support for this bill that currently has bipartisan support in the legislature and the support of 76% of Georgia voters.

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